Nº 377 (July, 2026). Andrés Ham, Emmanuel Vazquez, Monica Yanez-Pagans, Camilla Knudsen & Saher Asad
“Occupational Mobility and Green Transition: A Stylized Estimation of Skill Investment Needs in South Asia”.
This paper estimates the share of green employment in seven South Asian countries using an O*NET-based definition and finds that, on average, 24 percent of jobs in the region are currently green. The paper then assesses the potential for non-green workers to transition into green occupations. Among all non-green workers, 57 percent could transition to green jobs with limited reskilling, 16 percent with moderate upskilling, and 27 percent with full skills reconversion. These results suggest three policy priorities—promoting on-the-job training, strengthening firm-based and public–private training systems, and adopting a dual strategy that invests in reskilling and upskilling today’s workforce while simultaneously advancing forward- looking education reforms that equip future cohorts for new and emerging green occupations.
JEL codes: J21, J24, J62, O57, Q01, Q58
Suggested citation: Ham, A., E. Vazquez, M. Yanez-Pagans, C. Knudsen & S. Asad (2026). Occupational Mobility and Green Transition: A Stylized Estimation of Skill Investment Needs in South Asia. CEDLAS Working Papers Nº 377, July, 2026, CEDLAS-FCE-Universidad Nacional de La Plata.